Justin Peters - "A call for Discernment: A biblical Critique of the Word of Faith Movement"

Briefly, Peters is a Southern Baptist minister who conducts evangelistic meetings and revivals in the U.S. as well as having a support ministry for the physically handicapped (like myself, he has cerebral palsy). Due to his condition, he developed at a young age a keen fascination wih Healing ministry, doing his postgraduate studies on the theology and history of the Charismatic Renewal, with his M.Div focusing on the Word of Faith movement with an emphasis on the ministry of Benny Hinn.

   In addition to his evangelistic ministry, he also has a teaching seminar entitled "A Call to Discernment" where he looks at how to discern between true and false healing, the biblical validity of prosperity preaching and some of the false teaching that has crept into televangelism. Most recently, he attended Todd Bentley's controversial "revival" meetings as a "secret shopper" to substantiate the questionable testimonies of healing.


Introduction




Session 1: "Dangerous Doctrine"

Haven't you ever wondered why there seem to be glaring similarities between what you see preached by televangelists and what is taught by the likes of Oprah and New-Age books such as "The Secret"?







Session 2: "Mangled Manifestations"

What are we to make of the bizarre "manifestations" - Holy Laughter, Gold Dust, Angelic Encounters, Journeys to Heaven, Unruly Worship, Divine Revelation-Knowledge/Illumination - that have characterised so many contemporary revival movements?

Session 3: "The Hurt of Healing"

According to one pastor:

"If you come to me today; If you come to our ministry team and God heals your body, Guess what, it was God. If he doesn't, it was us. See, people are either healed - they're always healed because of God. And they're not healed because of me, because of you, or because there's an atmosphere we don't know how to dismantle. The point is, the lack is never on God's end of the equation." http://bit.ly/bOmH8A

If it is always God's will to heal those who pray for healing, what do you do when healing doesn't happen? Is it ever God's will not to heal, but instead use suffering and affliction for His glory? Justin Peters compares these views and how they relate to a practical view of Christians who endure suffering.